Way too carbonated for a Hefe, the color was not yellow nor the appearance unfiltered. Tons of carbonation lines the edge of the glass and gives this beer a really cheap look.

The scent is softly clove but more banana. Weak but not absent the scent is nice and fruity when you find it.

The taste is very appropriate with clove and fruity banana but the banana is at the front and quite nice. Wishes for a simply stronger fruitiness this Hefe lives up to the expectation of the style but is simply too weak and or cheap.

From the bottle: "This traditional German-style wheat beer (pronounced hay-fuh-vite-zen) remains unfiltered to preserve its natural smooth flavor and aroma. Don't be alarmed by its cloudy appearance or noticable sediment. The slight banana and clove aroma comes from authentic German Hefeweizen yeast. Crafted from winter wheat, two row malt with Mittelfreuh and Tettnang hops, it has a light and refreshing finish. Enjoy!"

I went with a very aggro pour as this is a hefeweizen and not a kristalweizen. As such, I got just over a finger of fluffy, bone-white head with decent retention. Color was a cloudy orangish-yellow. Nose was more of clove than banana, which is more towards my sensibilities anyway. Mouthfeel was thin and watery and the taste was fairly bland. It was faintly spicy with clove esters, but overall, it was a stretch to say that there was much there. Finish was likewise bland. I'll keep trying.

Poured from a brown 12 oz. bottle. Has a cloudy golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is mild, some banana. Taste is good, banana, spice, very refreshing. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall, while not the best hefe out there, is drinkable and enjoyable

A - Cloudy golden color, with one finger, white fluffy head, no lacing.
S - Smells like banana bread.
T - Bananas, bread, and wheat flavor. A little hop taste at the end. Not complex but good flavors.
M - Light and a little grainy taste.
O - This is a good beer, the banana and bread malts might be a little bit overdone for some, but I enjoyed it.

Pours deep, hazy golden in body with white head that fades to a thin film on top. Smells pop tart: candy vanilla, citrus, lemon cookie. Tastes like seltzer with vague notes of vanilla, lemon cookie, a bit of grass, citrus peel, hint of clove. Light in body with medium carbonation but zappy on the palate. A careless hefeweizen but drinkable.

Pours a slight cloudy, pale golden yellow color with a half finger white head that immediately fizzles into a thin ring. No lacing.

Earthy, slightly spicy aroma with some grassy hops and zesty clove followed by some bready yeast and light fruit. Floral but kind of bland with most of the traditional heffe notes kind of muted. Hints of apple, pear and subtle banana.

On the lighter end of medium bodied with tight carbonation and a prominent zesty spice presence up front. Lots of peppery clove and coriander that lingers throughout and dominates the flavor. There's also some dry earthy, grassy hops up front which are countered by subtle bready yeast and light fruit notes. Hints of apple and pear with subtle banana but surprisingly there's hardly any citrus flavor at all. Not offensive but kind of bland and not very flavorful.

From the 12 fl. oz. bottle. Sampled on May 19, 2012. It begins with a golden-pale yellow pour with a quick fizzy head that settles to a session-long ring and good carbonation. On the nose there is a definite banana and clove ester, both of which overtake the more subtle wheat. The body is light and on the smooth side. The taste ramps up the banana and clove with an almost citrus tart appeal toward the end. Altogether a crisp finish. This was had at the end of a busy day of yard work on an 80-degree day and it felt perfect for the occasion.

On tap poured into pint at Nail Creek in utica. Pours a hazy orange with a small amount of head. Some nice banana malts and typical hefe aromas. Taste is nice. Clove and banana are slightly overdone by the malts but otherwise a very tastey hefe. Its a bith thin but mouthfeel is smooth otherwise. Overall a very good hefe. It would hold up well against big name rivals but somewhat lacking in overall wow factor. Worth a try for sure!

Mildly hazy dark yellow. The head once boasted about two inches, but has now pancaked on top. 3.5

Lemon zest and crushed Captain's Wafers in the aroma. A little salty. Very subdued backdoor banana in the nose. Almost gose-like. Not your stereotypical Bavarian-style hefe aroma. 3.5

Again with the saltiness. The clove shows up in the taste, almost completely replacing the banana. Forefront lemon and herbal grassy notes that taste like products of the yeast rather than the hops. Slight salty caramel and maraschino cherry. A little witbier spice in the finish. Attenuated flavor, crossed up with some seawater. Perhaps, a little more interesting than average. 3.5

Very thin for the style. The carbonation level seems higher than it actually is. Not a great feel. 2.5

I'm not sure if Matt Brewing was intending on altering the style this much, but this ale misses the mark. It's enjoyable enough as a wheat beer or just as a summer refreshment. The salty character is interesting and unique. Not a good hefe. I'll just call it average. 3.0

i think this is an excelent hefe, and i am always glad when it pops up in the saranac 12packs. pours a very pale yellow shade with a modest amount of suspended sediment and a tall white head. big aroma of banana and clove in this one, really potent smell. yeast is there behind a wheat malt backing. flavor is similarly banana, which i really like in this one. its a little sweet, tropical, and spicy. not exactly subtle, but not in your face too hard either. feel is nice, not heavy at all from the sediment. bigger carbonation than most, very drinkable. i like this one best in the summer box.

Aroma had some mild banana and clove aroma. Fruity and yeasty with a mild sweetness. Slightly metallic.

Taste was slightly metallic upfront that turned to a lightly malty and sweet flavor. Some mellow notes of banana and clove. Mild spicey hop bitterness in the finish. Some fruity flavors. Slight grainy/bready flavor.

Mouthfeel was medium body with medium carb. Crisp finish.

Overall it's a decent, easy drinking hefe. Hoped for a tad more body and stronger traditional hefe flavors, but still tasted good and approriate to style.

Cloudy beer, a little tinge of orange in addition to the yellow, kind of looks like that Bitter Monk dipa swimming in brett. Mild yeasty banana clove aroma, standard fare.

Easy to drink, all the usual suspects in a hefeweizen are there, banana, dry yeast, a bit of lemon flavor. On the plus side, even though everything is slightly muted with Saranac brews, this one tones down some of the hefe flavors I'm not a big fan of, so in some ways this works, since it isn't overloaded with clove aspects.

Pretty straightforward and mildly enjoyable. Not recommending it, but not saying it sucks or to stay away.

This one poured a hazy, light golden color, with a large-ish, rocky white head. Aromas of banana, cloves, biscuits and a light graininess. On the palate, this one was light bodied and refreshing, with flavors of banana, light clove and a little biscuit. ™

T: Like the nose – cloves, banana, bread, wheat, yeast – again with great proportions, balance, and super well melded. Core hefe flavors are rounded out by fruity (tropical & apple) esters, hints of citrus & pepper/spice through the middle, and some smooth bitterness pushes through at the end. Super nice – character, roundness, depth, balance – very well done hefe.

M: Body is fairly average with carbonation a bit over balanced to lighten and enliven. Could be just a bit smoother, but overall it is quite refreshing.

D: Nice job! Totally hits the right notes. Very balanced, approachable, and drinkable. Not the best Hefe in the world, but for the price point it is pretty damn good. Best of the summer 2011 mix pack.

A- Hazy pale amber body into my pint glass (don't have a Weizen glass at my new apartment yet). A nice foamy white head forms to a good two fingers in size. Retention is decent and a small ring stays around the top of the beer. Once again, lacking lace for a Saranac.

S- An easy going blend of clove, banana and lemon/citrus zest. Some floral hints as well.

T- Brings all the normal hefeweizen elements to the table. I start off getting some good citrus hops, clove spice, banana and wheat bread. Also some herbal, grassy and floral hops hints.

MF- Foamy light body with high carbonation stinging the palate. Finishes just a tad bitter.

A pretty good Hefeweizen, better than I expected. Matt/Saranac have impressed me lately. Some of their past offerings I have had were way, way off but the summer six pack so far is pretty good ($10 for 12 pack of six different beers).

Look: Poured a cloudy dull yellow with steady carbonation and lots of floatys from the sediment. Head was a fluffly white 1 finger. I couldn't get over the amount of sediment in this.

Smell: Heavy clove notes – almost like a burnt plastic. Maybe some banana, but it was hard to get past the intense clove.

Taste: The taste was certainly a surprise. Clove obviously dominated the palate, but banana was also just as present, I also got that signature Saranac maltiness. There were peppery notes throughout each sip. The finish was of fruity mango with a dryness that ultimately became the aftertaste.

This actually was a very balanced Hefeweizen. Not one quality was too overpowering. So often, Belgian style beers seem to go way overboard on the clove.